Friday, February 2, 2018

When our story broke yesterday that one of the "Humboldt 35" – people on the California Attorney General's database listed as missing from Humboldt County – was not only safe and sound, but vying for a rose on national television, it was greeted by a variety of responses, and a lot of questions. The most pressing question: How did Martinez's name end up on the California Attorney General's website as a missing person, when she was clearly alive and well and active on social media during the time period she was supposedly missing? The answer to that question says a lot about how our system for reporting and investigating missing persons does – and doesn't – work.

Bekah Martinez herself helped our story go viral, retweeting it with the words "MOM. How many times do I have to tell you I don't get cell service on the Bachelor??" This year's season of the popular show started filming Sept. 20, according to Insider, and wrapped up around the end of November. On Nov. 18, Martinez's mother reported her missing, saying she was last seen Nov. 12, and her listing was active on the Attorney General's website as of Jan. 18, our "point in time" for capturing the Humboldt 35. Martinez's mom apparently reported her as having come to Humboldt to work on a cannabis farm. Whether she left TheBachelor set to come to Humboldt (Spoiler alert, Bachelor Nation), just offered the story as an alibi while she was wrapping up filming or the timeline is just wonky, we don't know.